Ground Forces
Armour in Counter-Insurgency MRAP & Beyond
Conventional counter-insurgency strategy holds that government forces should clear an area of insurgents, hold that area and then rebuild state institutions and the local economy, thus removing the ability of insurgents to operate in that area. Conversely the insurgent wishes to combine the clear and hold phase, here the aim is simple for an insurgency to thrive they must dismantle the state and its related economic structure. One of the most effective ways for an insurgent to achieve this aim is by attacking transportation and the road infrastructure.

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Air Forces
Attack & Utility Helicopter Programmes in Asia a complex Merketplace


As if any proof were needed, recent military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have proved how essential effective utility and attack helicopter capabilities are. Then we must not forget the importance of helicopters in disaster relief missions after the recent earthquake or China, or going back to the end of 2004, how the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) used its helicopters to make an extremely positive contribution in disaster relief missions in Thailand and Indonesia after the tsunami.

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Ground Forces
Armour Development in Malaysia - Enhancing the Force

The Malaysian Army for years was optimised for counter-insurgency operations; as such this meant that its requirements for armoured vehicles were limited. By the end of the 1980s, the end of the insurgent threat had put the Malaysian Army in a situation where it would need to restructure itself for conventional operations and this inevitably led it to evaluate new options in terms of armoured vehicles. To this day the Malaysian Army is still working on upgrading the armour capabilities that it has, and this upgrading process seems set to continue for many years yet.
Sadly, the history of armour acquisition in Malaysia is full of false dawns, requirements and programmes that came close to reality but in the end failed. For example, in the mid-1980s there was a plan to purchase a 105 mm light tank, the German Thyssen- Henschel TH-301, this would certainly have been a major boost to capability.

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Naval Forces
Regional Frigate & Corvette Programmes Continuing Capability Evolution



In recent years the operational capabilities of regional navies have grown to a dramatic extent, a process that shows no signs of slowing down. We are seeing the arrival of new aircraft carriers, ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), nuclear submarines (SSN), conventional submarines (SSK) and air defence destroyers – all top of the range naval hardware. However, the sophistication and cost of all of these systems should not blind us to the fact that frigates and corvettes arguably remain the most useful surface combatants for the majority of regional navies.

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Exhibition Review
Notes from Farnborough 2008
Eurosatory 2008, the ninth exhibition in this series, ran from 16th to 20th June, and once again demonstrated why it is considered to be the leading international defence exhibition for land forces systems and equipment. The first Eurosatory exhibition took place at Le Bourget, the site of the Paris Air Show, just to the north of Paris, in 1992. Essentially this was a rebranding of the Satory exhibition that was the national land systems event for the French defence industry. For its 1994 event, Eurosatory had taken the decision to become a fully international exhibition with participation opened up to the defence industries of the United States, the Western European Union (WEU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. The 1996 event saw the full spectrum of the global land defence industry invited to participate. Then in 2002 the exhibition moved to its current home at the Parc des Exhibitions at Paris- Nord Villepinte.

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Regional Forces
Korean Defence Developments

The Republic of Korea (ROK) is not just a major defence market; it is increasingly becoming a defence producer in its own right. In early August the ROK Ministry of National Defense (MND) put great emphasis on the 8th Korea-Israel Joint Defense Industry Cooperation Committee meeting. The ROK Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that this meeting would focus on finding new areas in which the ROK and Israel can “cooperate to develop their defence technology and industry.” The Israeli delegation to these talks also visited the ROK Vice Minister of National Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the research centres of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Doosan Infracore.
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